


Blanketed in Darkness

by cadkitten



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst and Porn, Armpit Kink, Awkward Boners, Curiosity, Desperation, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, First Time, Hand Jobs, Loss of Control, M/M, Masturbation, Past Mind Control, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Sexual Abuse, Sleepy Sex, Tim Drake is Robin, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-24 13:14:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4920997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadkitten/pseuds/cadkitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The night seemed to swallow him up, the layers of darkness folding in around him and reminding him again and again of the darkness that had nothing to do with the amount of light down here under the ground and everything to do with the all-encompassing weight of the thoughts within his mind. Tim curled up tighter in the blankets, clutching the heavy weight of the down comforter over his slight frame.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blanketed in Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Remember that fast track to hell I'm on? Yeah... it just got faster.  
> Beta Readers: Ischa, sakura_ame

The night seemed to swallow him up, the layers of darkness folding in around him and reminding him again and again of the darkness that had nothing to do with the amount of light down here under the ground and everything to do with the all-encompassing weight of the thoughts within his mind. Tim curled up tighter in the blankets, clutching the heavy weight of the down comforter over his slight frame. 

A shiver worked its way up his spine and he turned on his side, facing the warmth of the other person in the bed with him. The constant press of the night on his psyche after the last incident had drawn him to share Dick's bed for a few nights. It wasn't remotely normal... or even usual for that case. But this seemed to help to at least some degree, rolling over and finding the other's larger body right there, heat radiating from him. Nice and warm; nothing was ice cold except his mind. Another tremor shoved through him and he carefully shifted himself closer to Dick, curling himself around the curve of his body, just barely touching him. 

Under light of day, he may have been stand-offish about such things, about the contact with someone else like this. But right then, right there in the darkness - a stupid thing for a piece of the dark to be afraid of, he was certain - the need far outweighed the desire to appear self-sufficient and like he needed nothing from anyone else.

Another tremble shook him, this one feeling like it was seeping into his bones and he gave in, plastering himself to Dick's back, his nose tucking against his shoulder and his arm sliding over Dick's waist, arm dangling there and his tenseness relaxing as he eased into it.

Dick didn't even budge, didn't seem to have a clue he was being used as a safety net for the time being, and that was all that much better for Tim. For a while, he managed to doze, sliding in and out of consciousness as he clutched Dick's warmth closer to him in his half-asleep state.

He'd been nearly fully asleep again when he felt Dick start to shift. Immediately, he was a bit more alert, waiting to see if he needed to retreat, his body determined to tense at a moment's notice if he was - in worst case - not wanted where he was. But Dick didn't speak, didn't really _do_ anything other than push his hips forward and then settle back into his previous position. 

Tim lay there, his heart beating a bit more rapidly, his mind on alert now, analyzing the situation as he'd been told repeatedly to do. Dick's hips shifted again and this time, his breath hitched for the smallest moment. Another arch and then the tensing of other muscles for the most fragile of seconds. 

Curiosity got the better of Tim and he shifted up a little, peering down at Dick, trying to see if he was faking being asleep. He could see that the other was clearly sliding through REM sleep at the moment and he cocked his head, watching in fascination. When Dick's hips moved again, Tim reached to fumble with the blanket, wondering if that had something to do with the whole ordeal. His fingers ghosted a bit lower than he'd intended and he froze as his hand came into contact with something a little more intimate than he'd been expecting.

Dick arched again, this time right into Tim's touch, a low groan pulling free from his throat.

Much to his own chagrin, Tim's first response wasn't to pull away, wasn't to stop what was happening. Rather, his fingers closed over the head of Dick's length, squeezing the shaft and watching in startled amazement as Dick began to push eagerly against his hand, still clearly very much asleep.

Tim's heart raced, his breath coming in quick gasps as he slid his hand down to fully encircle the other's shaft, pressing closer against his back, molding his body along the length of Dick's own. He pushed his face against Dick's arm to muffle his own moan that wanted to bubble up.

Excitement took full hold and it wasn't long before he pulled himself back just enough to wriggle around, pushing his feet on the bed and arching up to yank his briefs off, tossing them somewhere between himself and the wall. Rolling back over toward Dick, he gave one fragile moment of pause, watching the other still pushing his hips and making pitiful little sounds deep down in his throat as he tried to find the contact he'd lost again.

Determination filled Tim and he lifted the edge of the blanket, sliding under it and pressing himself against the Dick's bare back, fitting his cock snug up against Dick's ass-cheeks and sliding his hand around again. Taking hold of Dick's cock, he gave it a few strokes through his boxers before pushing his hand down under the elastic, taking Dick fully in hand. The warm pulse of Dick's erection pressed so firmly in his palm, nearly drove Tim over the edge. His body pressed tighter against Dick's own and he jerked his hips a few times, unable to stop himself even if it did wake the other up. He'd never been this intimate with another person and the pure pleasure of it, of having a cock in hand that wasn't his own, of driving his own erection against Dick's body... it was nearly too much.

Dick shifted then, his arm lifting and grasping Tim around the shoulders, shoving him face-first into his armpit, his hand sliding up to hold onto Tim's hair as he moaned loudly into the otherwise fairly silent room. His hips arched hard and his cock flexed within Tim's grasp.

Tim jerked him off faster, his heartbeat careening out of control as he fought with himself on if Dick was awake or not. He settled on possibly awake, but too blissed out to care what was happening just yet and aimed for Dick's orgasm, desperate for this first contact to end with him having pleased the other person, at the very least. He thrust his own cock against Dick's hip, the material of Dick's boxers having been pulled down enough by his actions that he was finally skin-to-skin with him in the most intimate and glorious of manners. Tim could feel the warm skin slickening with his pre-cum as he moved, his body more than eager to pave the way for him in such a manner. 

Dick moaned again and Tim stroked quicker, sitting up quickly and spreading his legs. He spit on two of his fingers, sliding them back behind his balls and pushing them into his own tight passage, as he had a million times before, aching for the extra contact. He shuddered as he moved as much as he could back into the previous position, awkward as it was, nuzzling his face up against Dick's armpit since the other had clearly wanted him there. The scent was heady, just the faintest hint of sweat and mostly something very much belonging completely to Dick. He slid his tongue out, gliding it over the skin just above the patch of hair there, and then lower, to swirl directly within the pit, earning a choked cry from Dick, the other's hips humping the air in near desperation as his own head was shoved more completely against the area. He nipped and sucked and then licked some more, finding himself growing more and more aroused as they continued.

Just when he was sure Dick was tensing up to cum, he found himself being forcefully shoved away, nearly hitting the wall as he rolled with it. He scrambled to lay back, ready to take whatever he would deserve for essentially molesting Dick in his sleep, not even raising his hands to block whatever would come. 

For a few seconds, only the sound of their labored breathing filled the room. Finally the bed shifted as Dick moved, slowly rolling over to face Tim, one hand coming to lightly cup his cheek, the touch fleeting. He could hear Dick's nearly defeated sigh, sense the fear that had filled the room, before he ever spoke. "Tim... I-"

Tim's hand came to grasp Dick's wrist, holding on hard, shocking him into silence. "Before you say anything... I started this. And I know I was in the wrong." Silence spread out between them, hard and oppressive. Tim could feel the insistent press of his own thoughts as they barged in on him, shaming him for what he'd just done to Dick... without permission, without hesitation. What kind of person did that make him? 

"I shouldn't... we can't." His sentence cut off, harsh and abrupt. "There's rules, Tim. They may not mean anything to you, but-"

"You turned eighteen yesterday... two days and we wouldn't be having this discussion. I know the laws, I'm not a complete idiot, you know." Tim knew he sounded angry, that his voice was anything but kind in that moment. "I didn't set out to start this, but I certainly didn't stop myself once I had."

"You're not the one who needed to stop here."

Tim reached up, his hand sliding over Dick's shoulder as he arched his hips, seeking and finding contact. Dick wasn't going to blame himself for this, no matter how it all ended up, it wasn't his fault. Sure, he was older, even better trained than Tim, but that didn't make him flawless. Everyone had needs... wants... even fucked up desires. He cut his own thoughts off there, tugging Dick down just enough to actually look him in the eyes. " _No one_ needs to stop here." 

A few tense moments spread out between them, neither giving an inch, though Tim couldn't have said why he didn't give up, why he didn't back down on something he hadn't even meant to start to begin with. Maybe it was wanting something so desperately that even now he couldn't take his mind off of it. Or maybe it was the rush of feeling the other's presence hovering over him; more powerful, more trained... and if he let himself admit it, it helped that it was just barely a walk onto the wrong side of the line. Something Bruce had once told him came back to him and he didn't stop himself from uttering the words. "He who battles monsters must take care, lest he become a monster. If you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

He could sense more than see Dick's gaze harden for an instant before he pulled away, moving to the edge of the bed and settling there, his head bowed and his body tense. "Nietzsche. Did Bruce tell you that?" The words were hard, cutting, as though forced out from between a variety of horrible emotions and thoughts.

Tim pulled himself up, resting his back against the wall and gazing up toward the ceiling. "Yeah... describes my own thoughts pretty well right now." Sighing, he let his hands fall into his lap, wrists lax and his fingers lightly curled. "I want this to happen... you and I to happen. But there's a part of me that wants it more because of the things that are wrong with it, the messed up parts."

Dick stood up then, moving to lean himself against the edge of the dresser, his arms crossed tight over his chest. "I need you to be honest... did Bruce... did he-" he nearly choked on the words, unable to even spit out what it was he wanted to ask.

Tim's face shifted to a mask of surprise. He shook his head, letting a strangled little noise leave his mouth before he hissed out, "No! Good God, Dick... why would he-" he stopped then, realization settling over him like a cold, wet blanket born of pain. Dick's reaction to the words, his tenseness, the way he'd moved so fully away from the bed. "No... never even a hint. He told me that one day after we took down some cop. He had this girl in his car and... let's say it wasn't pretty. After we cuffed him up and shoved him in the backseat of his own car, Bruce said that."

"I see..." Dick sighed then, a lot of his tenseness easing out of him. "Let's say, then, that I heard them in a different context. I'm... glad... you heard them there." 

Tim rolled off the bed, easing himself to his feet and came to stand in front of Dick, reaching to run his hand down the other's arm. He caught his wrist and held onto it. "If you ever want to get anything off your chest... I'm here. And, Dick..." he bowed his head, shame filling him even fuller in that moment. "I fucked up. I never should have done what I did and... and whatever I need to do to make it right, I will. I-"

"This is different," Dick cut in, his voice tired, but no less forceful for it. "I don't relate things to my past, okay? I _know_ you're smart enough to figure out what I'm not saying... what I don't want to say. I did what I needed to with that back then. But I will tell you, before you think he's a terrible person, he was under control of someone far more powerful than either of us had imagined. Someone who brought out the very worst in whoever they controlled... the darkness... the latent criminal in all of us." Dick reached to take Tim's other hand, twining their fingers together. "I guess... I'm talking about it anyway." The softest huff of a humorless laugh left him as he squeezed Tim's hand.

Tim didn't say a word, just letting Dick lead this wherever he needed it to go. Somehow everything had gotten twisted and dark, but then... the universe had a way with forcing issues like this, didn't it?

"That guy... he made a mistake that night. But he made a bigger one a few weeks later, when he messed around in my head." Dick's grip increased; something Tim was nearly certain he wasn't conscious he was doing. "By then I knew what he'd done to Bruce and I knew how horribly it affected both of us because of it." Dick pulled Tim closer, looking him right in the eyes. "Do I look like a murderer to you? Have you ever thought that about me?"

"No." The word slipped from Tim's lips with a certainty attached that pleaded to not be argued with.

"I am, though. Asshole made a mistake... claimed my mind as his own playground to bring out the worst in me." Dick was breathing quicker now, his eyes dark, and his body screaming desperation. "I tracked him down and I killed him. No hesitation, no second thoughts... just cold blood. I killed him for what he did to me and Bruce and anyone else he ever pushed his nasty power upon. And I _enjoyed_ it." Dick let go of Tim abruptly, crossing his arms again, his body radiating an anger that ran deeper than anything Tim had ever seen; an anger that twined with the soul and ate away at it over years. "And then I knew... I knew no matter how much Bruce hated himself for what he did... he'd _liked_ it, too. There's always this fear, in the back of my mind, that I'll lapse... that I'll kill someone on purpose and that I'll get some perverse thrill out of doing it. And if I'm afraid I'll lapse, then what if-"

"He didn't, okay?" Tim cut in, his voice strong now, forcing Dick to pay attention to him and get out of his own head. "Bruce has never touched me and he _won't_. Maybe you don't know it, but he won't even train me like he trained you. He won't tell me all the secrets, all the tricks of the trade. He's running scared and now I know why. Some guy sticks his fingers in your brains and swirls them up, turns you both into the thing we fight and now you're both terrified the other is going to do something wrong... or that I will in your place. But that's not how the world works and it seems you took out the piece on the board who would have forced it to work that way, didn't you?"

Their eyes met and Dick breathed out a quiet sigh, his shoulders relaxing as he reached to rub his hand over his face. "I... let's stop talking about this."

"Yeah, I can get behind that. What about the other topic... the one that landed us here?" Tim didn't know why he was being so blunt about it, but he couldn't find a reason not to be and he was still a little afraid of what he'd felt while he'd been doing what he had.

"About that... is this the first time you've ever wanted to, ah... do that?"

"To you, you mean?" Tim took a few steps back and eased himself onto the edge of the bed, leaning forward and bracing his arms on his thighs. "I guess I've thought about nearly all of you guys at some point, honestly. But if what you really want to know is if I set out to do this tonight. No, I didn't. I needed the contact and the comfort and you were there... and then... I think you were having a good dream." Tim was careful now, trying not to imply Dick had started any of it, not wanting the other running scared from something Tim knew he still wanted. Two days wasn't a hell of a lot and a huge part of him wondered if it would have been this big of a deal three days ago. "The rest was all me... you were hard and I got horny. Things escalated."

"Have you ever?" Dick was so matter-of-fact about it that it was almost endearing and Tim found himself flushing a little as he ducked his head.

"No. But I wanted to... with you." Tim could already feel the slow burn start up again, low in his abdomen. The ache that left him wanting more and more, that had driven him to what he'd been doing. The fingers of shame licked at him again. Dick had already been through so much and then he had to go and-

"Hey..." Dick's voice was gentle, the hand on his shoulder warm and solid. "You're at the height of your sexuality. Things happen... and I think I was somewhere between awake and asleep anyway..."

"You were asleep. I checked."

"Whatever... I'm not offended by what happened on your end. I still think I should have had the presence of mind to stop it when I did start to wake up, but that's another issue altogether."

"It's no better than what B-" Dick shot him a look so fast, he clamped his mouth shut hard enough that his teeth clacked.

"We never talk of that again. Before you tell me to talk to someone, I did. For two years, every week. Don't bring it up, don't repeat it, and we," he gestured between the two of them, "pretend it never happened. I want yes or no answers to a few things and then we figure some shit out." Dick shifted against the dresser and cocked his head a little. "Do you want me still?"

"Yes."

"Is that just because it was me who was nearby?"

Tim was slow to answer, studying the floor at Dick's feet first and then offering, "No."

"If that had played out... how did you imagine it?"

"That's not a yes or no question." Tim could feel the tension in the room easing already, some of the darkness fading away around the edges.

"Just answer it..."

"You would have pushed me onto my back and gone after me hard until I showed you how much I liked it."

Dick made a little noise deep in his throat, his hands moving to grip the edge of the wood dresser. His voice was far quieter when he spoke again, something else laced with it, different than before. "Just like that? Nothing else?"

"Didn't have time to dwell on it all that much... what was happening was better than my imagination anyway." Tim eased himself back, leaning on his hands as he showed himself to Dick if he wanted to look, his cock already half hard.

Dick's gaze flicked over to Tim, desire written clearly over his features, his breath coming in slightly unsteady. "I have a confession..."

Tim pushed his hips up a little and then settled them. "...Yeah?"

"I want this... I want _you_."

Tim stood up, coming to stand in front of Dick, regarding him for a long moment before reaching behind him and opening the ceramic jar on the dresser. He pulled out two items and then took Dick's hand, pressing them against his palm. "This is my permission, my fully-aware consent of this situation. I want you to be the one I get to have this with. Pretend it's three days ago, I don't care. Just... something. Anything."

Dick's fingers closed around the condom and the little bottle of lubricant, holding onto them for the length of time it took Tim to slide back onto the bed and stretch out on his side. He cast one more glance at him and then shook his head a little, looking down at the items he held. "I should ask you how you're so prepared... but I guess I know the answer to that, don't I?"

"You learn things when you're... around. Besides, school isn't all that bad about telling us things these days."

"Maybe now. They taught us just not to." Dick shifted against the dresser, still staring at the items. Turning, he placed them, very intentionally, on the dresser. "I can't do this to you, Tim... not because of my age or even because of my past. But because I know once I have, I won't want to stop."

"Maybe I don't want you to stop..."

Dick reached behind him and flicked on the little lamp on the bedside, the low-wattage bulb barely illuminating anything. But it was just enough to let them actually get a good look at one another. "It's illegal."

"You said you don't care... besides, there's a grace period in most places. And in some countries... it's not."

"We're not in any of those places and you know it."

"You want it," Tim tried, his hips shifting of their own accord. "And I want it."

"If you can't even tell me what _it_ is, then it's not the time."

"I want to _fuck_ , is that what you wanted me to say then?" Tim couldn't help the way his words reeked of desperation. He was losing ground here and he wanted nothing more than to feel Dick over him, _in_ him, right at that moment.

"Is it me or is it anyone who'd give you what you need right now? Because in my world... that part matters."

Frustration welled up inside of Tim and he rolled onto his back, making a frustrated sound before glowering up at the ceiling. "Was it anyone else I was touching? Or anyone else I trusted enough to be beside of tonight? You're the only one I wanted right here with me, okay? If that's not enough... I can't help you with whatever it is you're looking for."

"I'm not emotionally stable..."

"Are any of us?!" Tim sat up then, flat-out glaring at Dick. "Shit, I mean we're all putting out necks out for the world. A world that usually tries to bite us back and sees us as some kind of disposable shit rather than people. We run around in costumes to hide our real identities and we toss ourselves into harm's way every damn chance we get. I don't exactly think you can be stable and do that, okay!"

It was Dick's turn to look surprised. He just watched Tim explode at him and then tilted his head ever so slightly, regarding him in a manner that told Tim that Dick was seeing him in a whole new light all of a sudden. 

"Yeah... I'm not a damn kid anymore. Is that what you were looking for? 'Cause that stopped a long time ago."

"I'm not going to hide it if we do... I won't be that cruel or backwards. But you have to know how everyone else is going to look at it around here. The risk we're taking in doing this..."

"That they could toss us out on our rear-ends... or worse? Let them try." Tim flicked his eyes to the lube and then back up to Dick's face. "I'll tell them we were carrying on long before now. They wouldn't expect us to break it off just because of your birthday then."

Dick picked up the lube and tossed it to Tim, who caught it with ease. He left the condom on the very edge of the dresser, though he slid into bed beside Tim again. His hand came to rest on Tim's hip, thumb lightly dragging across his skin. "This is completely messed up..."

"The world's messed up," Tim returned, leaning in and gently capturing Dick's lips with his own. The kiss was slow, a gentle burn in comparison to how Tim felt right then. The tips of their tongues touched once in a while, though neither pushed it further than that.

With time, Dick ended the kiss with a light nip of Tim's bottom lip, his hand running up and down Tim's side. "Tell me what you have done..."

"Trying to decide how far to take this?" Tim shifted himself to press directly against Dick, finding that the other definitely wasn't unaffected by what was happening. "You're so hard," he breathed out, the words barely a whisper. 

Dick's hand slid down to grab Tim's ass, squeezing as he arched back against him, the actions of his hips hard and insistent. "Been... too long," he gritted out, his eyelids falling closed and his head tilting back, exposing his throat.

Tim ducked his head and pressed his lips against Dick's throat, kissing a path down to his Adam's apple, nipping it and then rolling them over so that Dick was on his back, Tim astride his hips. His hands slid over Dick's arms, down to his wrists and then to his hands, linking with them as he thought better of holding the other down to get this going fast enough for his own desires. He rocked his hips back, moving until he could feel Dick's clothed length pressing against his ass. "Dick..." he bit his lip after uttering the other's name, pushing back quickly on the other's cock and then jerking his hips forward, dragging himself over the warm flesh of Dick's abdomen. "Need... you."

"Ah.... _shit_ ," Dick hissed out, his hands gliding up over Tim's sides and then pulling him down closer to him. Within a second he'd reversed their positions, pressing Tim against the bed and reaching to snatch the condom off the dresser in nearly the same movement. The package ripping was louder than anything else in the room and Dick visibly winced at the sound of it. 

Tim grabbed it from his hand, motioning for Dick to come closer. Dick shifted to straddle one of Tim's legs, positioning himself closer as he gripped his pants, pushing them down to mid-thigh, revealing himself to Tim's excited touch.

Tim wrapped his hand around Dick's cock, pumping him for a few seconds before releasing him and rolling the condom down over his length. He met Dick's gaze as he made sure to pinch the air from the tip and get it snug down around the base. For whatever reason, he couldn't convince himself to look away, even as he found the lubricant and slicked Dick with a good amount of it. 

Leaning back, Tim drew the leg Dick wasn't straddling up toward his chest, reaching down to wipe the rest of the lube in a more useful place than the bed. His other hand reached for Dick's hand, guiding it down to his own aching length, pressing Dick's hand around him and breathing out a contented sound as contact was finally made. "Need you," he offered, hoping it was the last bit of encouragement the other would need.

That was all it took and a second later, Dick was hunched over him, one hand on the pillow by his head, the other holding his leg as he positioned himself and slid fully into Tim's body. 

Tim cried out as he was so fully penetrated, his hips arching and his hole clenching tight. Above him Dick let out a strangled sound, his hand clenching around Tim's dick and starting to stroke him off quickly, as though his last fragile wires of control had just given out; a trapeze artist scrabbling like mad to grab for a ring just out of his grasp.

Tim threw back his head, grabbing the sheets on either side of himself and squeezing hard as he tried to breathe. He was on fire... delicious, delirious fire. Everything about him was falling to pieces and yet building higher at the same time. His muscles strained and his mind consuming itself with nothing but this incredible feeling. " _Fuck_ me," he hissed out.

The bed protested, the springs creaking as Dick moved, the huff of their breath mingling on the air. Dick shifted slightly, sinking into a better position, letting himself go finally. The shift was so obvious to Tim that he actually felt the sweep of relief as if it were his own. Each smooth stroke filled him completely and every flick of Dick's wrist brought him higher. All the bad thoughts, all the negativity of earlier faded into the background and Tim clutched onto the feeling with something resembling desperation.

Dick added a flick of his wrist to every stroke on Tim's cock and Tim began to give the smallest bucks of his hips, unable to stop himself from moving as he grabbed the other's arm, fingers squeezing hard as he strained toward his end. And then, just like that, everything froze for Tim. For a few seconds, he was utterly consumed and then the coil within him snapped and then, just like that, he lost it. Never had it felt like this, so all consuming, so heady and _addictive_. Not once in his life had his orgasm been like this. He strained up from the bed and choked out Dick's name.

Dick sank into it even more, spreading his legs and really going after Tim. The sound of their union increased to a sharp slap of skin-on-skin and then abruptly stopped. He slammed in once more and then stilled as he started to cum.

Tim stared up at Dick, still panting for his breath as he watched Dick's face contort in absolute pleasure, as he felt him throbbing inside of him, filling the latex between them. He wet his lips and relaxed back against the bed, just focusing on catching his breath. 

Dick slowly eased himself down beside him, his hands grasping the corner of the sheet and carefully wiping up the remnants of what they'd done from Tim's skin, his touch gentle... far more caring than Tim had really thought about it possibly being. He was certain then, in that moment, that Dick had been right. This wasn't going to be a one time thing. It was something they'd started and now it was rolling along, just out of their grasp to stop it.

Once Dick was done, letting the sheet fall away, Tim shifted only enough to get away from the slightly sticky patch he'd on the sheets, and then slipped his arm around Dick, resting his head on the other's chest. Closing his eyes, he let his body start to relax again, this time intent upon drifting off into the sea of nothingness that sleep provided. His hand flexed on Dick's body and he murmured softly, "See you in the morning?" 

Dick slid his hand up to rest on the back of Tim's neck, his thumb lightly stroking. "Yeah... sleep well, Robin." A moment later, the light snapped off and Dick seemed to relax a bit more fully.

For a moment, Tim thought perhaps it had been the most impersonal thing Dick could have said. But after a few seconds it sunk in that that was anything but true. For Dick... for _Nightwing_ that was acceptance in a far deeper sort of manner than using his name would have been. A soft smile curved Tim's lips and he tucked himself closer, feeling Dick drawing the blankets up around them. He would have returned the sentiment, but words just didn't feel like the right answer. Instead, he squeezed Dick for a moment, holding tight only until his body willed him to relax toward the warm embrace of sleep; a call he very much heeded. 

Tomorrow... would be another day. And he got the feeling the night would hold something vastly different than it ever had before.

**The End**


End file.
